Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Here Come the Judge

My Day in court was very interesting to say the least.
I was totally awed by the magnitude of people
with traffic citations and the orderly speed with
which they were handled that morning. 
Most of them were minor;
registration, insurance, tail-lights out, etc. etc.
and each took a matter of seconds with
1 of the six D.A.'s present.
I intended to request "prayer for judgement"
on my 21 MPH over the limit speeding ticket and
had to appear before the judge.
I calmly waited, with my definitive goal in mind.
Then came the judge. My name was called.
I confidently strode to the front.
Within minutes the judge had asked several questions
that immediately made me doubt my intentions.
"Do you have a Lawyer? Are you a Lawyer?
Who advised you to seek Prayer for Judgment?
Prayer for Judgement is not typically given for
this magnitude of offense.
Do you realize your license may be revoked today
if I do not agree, once I hear your reason for speeding?
Do you wish to continue without counsel?
How do you plea?"
SHUUWEE!

Ok! Backbone a little less rigid now but I plead,
"Guilty with prayer for judgement"
I explain my mother's condition and the weekly
travel from Raleigh to Columbia, the intent to keep
all the balls in the air by spending less
 time than necessary in the car...aka speeding.

I'm sent back to my seat to await my fate.

My mind is whirling now:
He won't revoke your license, that's unusually harsh!
What if he does, how will I get home?
Well, I didn't really give him much choice,
he'll have to grant me prayer or he is 
the meanest judge in the universe.
Prayer for judgement?!?! He thinks I'm either 
the stupidest defendant ever
or the smartest! The worst that will happen
is 4 points on my license and I'll pay through the nose.

Back to the front.
"Your case is stayed. Pay the court cost of $130.00."

Woohoo! Yipppeee!
I'm a free woman again!
Hello cruise control!
Where have you been all my life?

4 comments:

  1. Oh, I'm so relieved! PTL! This is great news. Sending you hugs and happy dance to go along with it. Have you ever considered going to law school???

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

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  2. Just became a new follower and look forward to return for future posts (:

    Congrats on the resolution to your speeding situation. I helped to care for my Grandmother who lived in SC while I lived in NC. Those first few years before she came to live with us required 4 hour round trip car rides...I can totally empathize (: So glad it worked out!! Woohoo (:

    Michele
    XOXO

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